Jamie's First Lesson
by Taoroo
Summary: Jamie gets in trouble at school and Ben feels it is his duty to discipline him. CP fic.


Little Joe stood in the yard of the Ponderosa ranch, brushing down his horse after a long day out in the fields. He kept one eye on the road coming up to the house, hoping to see the now familiar sight of the Ponderosa's youngest member, Jamie Hunter, returning home from school in Virginia City. The boy was over an hour late and Little Joe was beginning to fret.

Cochise, his horse, gave his owner a nudge with his velvety nose and Joe focused back on the task, brushing the day's dirt out of his beloved friend's coat.

The sound of hoofbeats made him turn from his task. With relief he saw a red haired boy riding on his brown gelding, and stopped his work to turn to him.

'Jamie,' he acknowledged. 'Getting in a little late, aren't you?'

The boy gave his usual surly pout at the admonishment and dismounted without saying a word.

'You have some trouble at school again?' Joe asked, placing his hands on his hips and looking at the boy quizzically from under his hat.

'No,' Jamie avoided the man's eyes and took his horse by the reigns. 'I gots chores to do, Joe, I'll see you at dinner.' With that the boy led his mount into the barn.

Joe twitched his mouth into a crooked smile. The boy was hard work but no more than he had been at his age. Fourteen was a tough enough year without all the troubles that Jamie had faced and it had only been two months since his rather shaky start at school. It was a lot for the boy to handle. Joe just wished Jamie would let him and the rest of his family in.

Ben eyed Jamie over his coffee mug, seeing that the boy seemed a little out of sorts. For all the attention that Jamie was paying his food he didn't seem to be eating much of it.

'So Jamie,' the patriarch of the Cartwrights said. 'How was school today?'

Jamie shrugged his shoulders, not looking up from his plate. 'School's school,' he said in a mumble. 'Not much to say.'

Ben exchanged a wry look with Hoss and Joe, then cleared his throat. 'That Frank Snyder causing you any more trouble?' he probed.

'No, sir.'

Ben shrugged his shoulders at the non-committal response; he obviously wasn't going to get any answers out of the boy with this line of questioning.

After dinner Jamie surprised Ben with coming up with the answer himself, although he didn't look too pleased about it when he did.

Hoss and Joe had excused themselves; Joe to the bunkhouse to talk with his friends there and Hoss to the barn to tend to a sick horse. Usually Jamie would head off to his room to read a comic or to the barn with Hoss, but this time he hung around, waiting until the two Cartwright sons had left before speaking up to Ben, who had settled himself down in the red leather chair to read the paper.

'Uh, Mr Cartwright?' Jamie asked, standing in front of the man, his hands pushed deep into his pockets and his eyes fixed firmly on the Ben's left shoe.

Ben looked up from his paper. 'Yes, Jamie?'

Jamie breathed deeply from his nose and then brought his right hand from his pocket. He held a well creased piece of paper in his hand. 'Mrs Hagan asked me to see that you sign this,' he said, holding out the note, his eyes flicking to Ben's face and then back down at the floor.

Ben folded his paper and took the offered note, knowing that such things never held welcome news. As soon as he did so Jamie returned his hand to his pocket, shuffling his feet nervously as the man read.

Ben stayed quiet for a long while, keeping his temper under control. He had to be careful how he handled this; the boy was so skittish that any false move could cause him to run, as he had done only a few months ago.

'Jamie,' he said quietly, fixing his eyes on the boy and seeing his body stiffen in reaction to the word. 'I think you should go to your room, I'll be along to talk to you about this directly.'

Jamie's eyes met Ben's briefly and then the boy fled wordlessly up the stairs.

Ben massaged his eyes and ran a hand down his face in worried thought. Then, slowly, he stood from his chair and made his way up to Jamie's room.

When he reached the boy's door he knocked gently. Jamie's response was clear but held a little quaver that Ben couldn't help but notice.

Jamie was sitting on his bed when Ben entered, his hands gripping the side and his lips pressed together firmly.

Ben took the chair from the desk at the side of the room and turned it around, sitting and fixing the boy once more with an unwavering stare.

'Look at me Jamie,' he asked, his voice still soft and without menace.

After a moment's pause the boy complied, his eyes were a little wider than normal, his breathing more shallow.

'Who is Mickey Lane?'

Jamie winced. 'He's a new kid in school,' he said. 'His family settled at the old Dodgeson place last week.'

'He's quite a popular kid, would you say,' Ben asked, 'made a lot of friends already?'

Jamie pursed his lips into a sulky pout for a brief moment and looked away.

'Jamie?'

The boy looked back at Ben and his pout disappeared. 'Yes, sir.'

'But not so good at arithmetic hmm?'

Jamie said nothing but his top teeth began to chew at his bottom lip and the hands on the covers twisted in the cloth a little more.

Ben sighed and leaned back in the chair, hooking one leg up over the other and resting his hands upon it casually.

'I ever tell you about my eldest son Adam?' he asked.

'Only a little.' Jamie shrugged. 'He built this house.'

Ben nodded proudly. 'He was a smart boy, my Adam,' he grinned. 'The teachers had him working in studies years above the children of his own age. He loved to learn.' The man looked sidelong at the redheaded boy and smiled knowingly, 'and loved to be on top too. Hated losing to anyone. So, when a girl came along that could do sums faster than he could, his pride would not let him lose.'

Jamie couldn't see where the lecture was going but it seemed like the man had a point to make. He just wished Ben could start yelling so that it would be over, the suspense was killing him.

'At first Adam just studied harder and longer,' Ben said. 'But the little girl was simply a natural at sums. So, when it came around to the big math quiz, well, he just couldn't think about losing to her. So, do you know what he did?'

Jamie shook his head

'He wrote the formulas on his sleeve,' Ben said, keeping his eyes fixed on the boy in front of him. 'He cheated.'

'But, Mr Cartwright, I didn't cheat!' Jamie protested.

'Letting someone else cheat is the same thing, Jamie,' Ben said sternly. 'You let Mickey copy you during the test. Why?'

Jamie shrugged. 'He asked me to. It's not a big deal, Mr Cartwright.'

'Yes. It is,' Ben said. 'Jamie, this is your education, and Mickey's. Cheating in a test isn't going to prove anything to anyone.'

Jamie looked down, his hands clenching the bed covers tightly, knowing the man was right.

Ben breathed out heavily and stood up, walking across and placing a hand on Jamie's shoulder. 'Listen, Jamie. I know it has been hard for you to become accustomed to your life here, and I know that you haven't come to enjoy your schooling as I might have hoped, and making friends hasn't been easy. But hoping that someone will like you because you help them to cheat a test isn't the answer.'

'That's not why-' Jamie started but Ben held up a hand.

'Whatever your reasons for doing it I shall tell you what I told Adam,' he said. 'Cheating in a test isn't just lying to your teacher, or to God; you are lying to yourself. And helping someone else in a lie is just as bad as doing it yourself. Do you think if Mickey could just copy off you all the time that he would bother learning the lesson at all? No, he would just rely on you all the time, until you both graduated and he was left alone in the world, as ignorant and helpless as when he started. Do you want that?'

Jamie shook his head, startled to find that there were tears in his eyes. It wasn't just because of what Ben was saying; it was the disappointment in his voice when he said it.

'I guess you're right,' he said sadly. 'I'm sorry, Mr Cartwright.'

Ben smiled. 'I'm glad you understand, Jamie.' He sighed, thinking about his next step. 'Jamie, I have always told you that I and my sons have a great deal of affection for you,' he said, sitting on the bed beside the boy. 'And I care very deeply about you and your future. If I didn't then you wouldn't be at that school and I wouldn't be here lecturing you now.' He looked at Jamie steadily. 'I'll be honest; when you first came to live here I wasn't sure how to treat you. But I thought about it long and hard and I decided that, as long as you're under my roof, that I would treat you no differently than I would any of my sons.'

Jamie stared at the man with wide eyes, shocked at the regard in the man's words.

'When Adam cheated on that test, do you know what happened?' Ben asked him. Jamie shook his head.

'Well, for a start he received a lecture much like this one,' Ben smiled wryly, 'and the money for a new shirt came out of his allowance, seeing as the one he was wearing was stained with ink. And,' he gazed into Jamie's blue eyes, making sure he had his full attention, 'I gave him a tanning.'

Jamie's mouth dropped open and he leaned away from the man, understanding his intent. 'You're not...' he said, 'you cant-'

'Jamie,' Ben said, his voice still quiet but firm, 'I told you that I would treat you exactly as I would any of my sons; that includes your discipline.'

'But you're not my pa,' Jamie found himself squeaking. 'You don't have no right.'

'You are living under my roof,' Ben said sternly, 'and you agreed to obey my rules. You lied, Jamie. You cheated and you let yourself down. I know you feel sorry for what you did but I can't let something like this slide without punishment.'

'Then make me chop a couple'a quarts of wood,' Jamie said, shuffling away from the Cartwright patriarch. 'Give me extra chores... something!'

'That something is just what I'm going to do,' Ben said with finality. 'Jamie, I'm not asking you to like it, I just want you to accept it. I promise you, you'll get no more or less than what I would have given any of my three sons in the same situation.'

Ben could see Jamie's resistance waver slightly at his words and so stood and marched briskly to the chair, bringing it forwards and sitting himself in it. He gestured to the boy. 'Come over here, Jamie.'

Jamie shook his head slightly, his eyes wide with fear.

Ben sighed, reaching out and taking hold of the boy's arm, pulling him gently to his side. 'Seeing as this is the first time I don't see that you need to remove your pants,' he said, tugging the arm gently.

Stunned and bewildered at the situation he found himself in, Jamie didn't realise that he was over the man's lap until Ben's firm but gentle arm was wrapped around his middle, holding him in place.

'Please, don't do this,' the boy begged, touching his fingertips to the floor to balance his lanky frame.

'I have to, Jamie,' Ben said, raising his free hand and then letting it fall.

Jamie's whole body jumped as the first stinging swat landed on his backside. He sucked in his breath and scrunched his eyes up tight as the second blow fell.

Ben spanked Jamie in silence, letting his hand do the talking. At a particularly stinging swat to the undercurves Jamie gave a short cry of pain and clutched at Ben's leg, hugging it tight as the spanks continued.

'Please, Mr Cartwright. Arrgh! Please,' he yelped again, tears squeezing out from between his eyelids, his face flushing beet red to match his hair.

At thirty swats Ben finished the punishment with two hard and memorable slaps to the thighs. He rested his hand on Jamie's head, letting the boy recover before bringing him to his feet where he stood, sniffling back tears, in front of him.

Ben stared at the boy, his face displaying his worry and sadness. 'I'm sorry I had to do that, Jamie,' he said softly, 'I wouldn't have done it if I didn't care for you.'

Jamie was about to snap a harsh reply when he looked at the man's face and saw the hurt and concern in his eyes. He bit his lip and nodded silently.

Ben smiled and drew the boy into a hug, surprising them both. 'Now, I don't expect any more of this cheating,' he said gruffly when they broke apart. 'No sense in going through that again, hmm?'

Jamie forced a little smile at the corner of his mouth. 'No, sir,' he said quietly.

Ben stood and ruffled Jamie's hair. 'Good, now, why don't you get on to bed?' he suggested.

The boy sniffed once and drew a hand across his nose ruefully. 'Yessir.'

'Good night, Jamie.' Ben closed the door behind him and then let out a deep pent up breath, heading back down the stairs to the sitting room where he poured himself a large drink of whiskey and sat down heavily in the red armchair.

'Ah remember that look,' Hoss said from the front doorway. 'S'the same one you had right after Little Joe first hada "necessary talkin to".'

Ben drank the fiery liquid and gave a low chuckle. 'I'm surprised you remember that, Hoss.'

The Cartwright's middle son came to sit down on the couch, resting his arms on his knees. 'It's pretty hard to forget; Little Joe hollered loud enough to set the ponies in the barn all skitterish,' he grinned at his father, who was looking very tired. 'He take it all right?'

Ben nodded, sipping again at the whiskey. 'As well as I could have hoped, we all knew it was coming.'

'He looked durn right shifty to me this afternoon,' Hoss confirmed. 'But ah recon he's been lookin to be taken in hand pretty much since he started here.'

His father smiled into his drink. 'I hope you're right, Eric. I really hope that he understood that I only did it because I care about him.'

'We all do,' Hoss confirmed. 'A whole lot. Maybe this'll be a start of something more for us all t'gether.'


End file.
